Ethiopia

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PHOTO: Sean Sheridan for Mercy Corps

The context

Mercy Corps has been working in Ethiopia since 2004. Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most populous nation, and although the economy have been steadily growing, the vast majority of Ethiopia remains impoverished. More than 83 percent of the population lives in rural areas vulnerable to droughts caused by climate change as well as economic instability and conflict spillover from neighboring Somalia and South Sudan.

Back-to-back seasons of minimal rainfall led to a severe drought in 2016, killing valuable livestock and necessitating further humanitarian assistance in 2017. According to the U.N., the drought is worse than the 2010-11 drought because of consecutive droughts and a low rainfall forecast for the next few months.